The House of Mirth

Edith Wharton

Character List

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

Lily Bart

The protagonist of the novel, Lily Bart, is a beautiful
young woman searching for the right husband who will give her the
money and status to remain in upper-class New York social circles.
While she has a streak of the romantic in her, her primary focus
is on the wealth and social status of potential suitors, and she
casts aside many options, believing she can do better. The novel
follows a two-year period in Lily’s life as she moves from party
to party, struggling to stay within the favor of the wealthy while
mounting larger and larger debts. Unfortunately, her precarious
financial situation forces her to try some risky investing with
the help of a married man, which ends up backfiring and resulting
in her being cast out of the circles she so desperately wishes to
join. When her family rejects her for the same untrue rumors, Lily
is forced to join the middle class, working as a hat maker. Her
slide into poverty and depression continues, and eventually, Lily
takes too large a dose of sleeping medication—perhaps accidentally—and
dies in her sleep. Her focus on financial success never allows her
to truly consider a marriage to Selden, her truest friend and most
ideal match.

Lawrence Selden

Lawrence Selden, a young lawyer, is the only person in
the novel who is able to move within the elite social circles and
yet view them with the detached scrutiny of an outsider. Not wealthy
himself, Selden has a distant relationship to money, believing love
and happiness to be found instead of purchased. He is one of Lily’s
few consistent friends, always providing lively banter, a shoulder
to cry on, and honest advice. Selden’s rational thinking often overpowers
his romantic side, and it eventually causes him to realize how much
he is in love with Lily—a few hours too late.

George and Bertha Dorset

George and Bertha Dorset are an extremely wealthy couple
trapped in a loveless marriage. Bertha is an obnoxious, manipulative
socialite who uses gossip and wealth to get what she wants, including
the attention of other men. Initially, Bertha pursues Selden, and
later she uses Lily as a distraction for George so she can have
an affair with another young bachelor. Bertha then becomes jealous
of George’s affection for Lily and spreads rumors that result in
Lily’s expulsion from society. In the meantime, George is dragged
along through his wife’s escapades, eventually looking for divorce
and Lily’s hand in marriage.

Gus and Judy Trenor

The Trenors are another socialite couple who often host
large events at their home, Bellomont. Mrs. Trenor is a gossip and
spends much of her day fretting over the minutiae of entertaining—which
guests are the most desirable to invite, which have been “stolen”
by another conflicting event, and which unmarried men and
women should be set up together. Gus Trenor looks to other
women for the attention his wife doesn’t give him. A notorious flirt,
Gus is drawn to Lily, and he uses his financial investment skills
and a large sum of his own money in a risky investment for Lily.
This money becomes the focal point of the second half of the novel,
as Lily commits herself to repaying her debt.

Simon Rosedale

Mr. Rosedale aspires to the social circles of the wealthy.
Building his fortune in real estate, Rosedale initially appears
as the owner of Selden’s apartment building who catches Lily leaving
what appears to be a lover’s meeting with Selden. The path of Rosedale’s
rise to financial success and place in society sits in opposition
to Lily’s decline and death; while she starts as a member of the
inner circles and falls from their graces, he works his way up to
a point where he no longer is interested in marrying her. Despite
the differences in their social standing by the end of the book,
Rosedale is still kind to Lily, and he offers her money when he
runs into her after she has lost her hat-making job.